The Children's Museum...it CHANGED

My twenty something plans of getting married in front of the T-Rex at the Children's Museum are clearly off the table, because even if I weren't already married - THERE IS NO T-REX there anymore. Well there is one, but it's not out front.
I can forgive them though, as it's still the most MAGICAL Children's Museum ON THE EARTH.

We got to show our children the REAL Terra Cotta Warriors and then, we got to assemble our own!

I feel like they did a pretty good job, all in all.

We haven't been there since Louis was three and then he was afraid to go see the then NEW dinosaur exhibit. Not so much this time.

We saw some old friends, like the WATERCLOCK and I was remembering when it was new and amazing and how everyone used to line up to watch it go.

I have to admit, it is still pretty cool.

The other old friend that I was ecstatic to see was the polar bear. We read stories of it having been ruined several years ago, when some hillbilly tried to climb it and ripped the arm off. I remember this bear from when I was a very little girl, and I was so happy to see it had been repaired. I know that's silly, a poor dead polar bear that shouldn't have been killed probably. But it was and it's an essential part of the museum and my childhood.

Silly old bear.
There is so much to do there, that it feels to me that if you did it all properly, it'd be a two day event. We were Griswalding hardcore to get through the end and we missed a lot.

I could barely even remember where the exhibit was I used to volunteer, but it didn't matter. They've filled it with so much that's amazing. My kids were entranced.

I feel like if I never did anything else right, taking my kids to the Indianapolis Children's Museum will be one thing I DID do right. I'm so glad it's still magical and amazing and full of wonder for everyone.

This picture, btw, is legally required of all natural born Hoosiers. We are required to photograph our offsping in Indycars as often as possible. I don't make the laws people. I just do what I have to do.

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We Had to Do ALL The Things

But FIRST we had to do the important things. Important being hugs with Grandma and Grandpa - or Papa as Julia has decided to call him. We'd never been to their new place and it was an adventure of things to do, as Grandma's houses always are.

Grandma had COLORING BOOKS! Who KNEW other people could have things like COLORING BOOKS?? And she had lots of them.
We had dinner at one of our favorite chains from back when we lived there, and I swear I don't recall the food at all. Was it because it was just average or I was just so excited to see my parents? I don't know. It was Max and Erma's and we got burgers but eh, it's just a burger.

The twins thought Grandpa was awesome. We had to wait a while, which went really well, oddly. the waitress brought us sidewalk chalk to entertain little people.

We aren't good with waits usually, as Miles and Charlie won't tolerate them well but this time it all went well.
Of course the best part of any trip to Max and Erma's is the Sundae Bar. Right?

I wish my kids could've seen the OLD SUNDAE BAR because it was AWESOME. Max and Erma's has cheaped up the Sundae bar for sure, but hey, the kids didn't know the difference. It was still fun.

Julia thought it was awesome, obviously.

We decided that it wouldn't be right to come to Indy without heading for the Children's Museum, so we made that our plan for the next day.

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We Had to Do ALL The Things

But FIRST we had to do the important things. Important being hugs with Grandma and Grandpa - or Papa as Julia has decided to call him. We'd never been to their new place and it was an adventure of things to do, as Grandma's houses always are.

Grandma had COLORING BOOKS! Who KNEW other people could have things like COLORING BOOKS?? And she had lots of them.
We had dinner at one of our favorite chains from back when we lived there, and I swear I don't recall the food at all. Was it because it was just average or I was just so excited to see my parents? I don't know. It was Max and Erma's and we got burgers but eh, it's just a burger.

The twins thought Grandpa was awesome. We had to wait a while, which went really well, oddly. the waitress brought us sidewalk chalk to entertain little people.

We aren't good with waits usually, as Miles and Charlie won't tolerate them well but this time it all went well.
Of course the best part of any trip to Max and Erma's is the Sundae Bar. Right?

I wish my kids could've seen the OLD SUNDAE BAR because it was AWESOME. Max and Erma's has cheaped up the Sundae bar for sure, but hey, the kids didn't know the difference. It was still fun.

Julia thought it was awesome, obviously.

We decided that it wouldn't be right to come to Indy without heading for the Children's Museum, so we made that our plan for the next day.

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You Can Go Home

We decided that we needed to go home. We haven't been in years, and no one's parents are getting any younger. My mom isn't all that well, and Julia's NEVER been there to see them. So we loaded up and took our Labor Day weekend to head home.

Travelling is never without it's peril, to be certain. The girl HAD to go, and so we stopped and this was our option.

I chose NOT to flush. Sorry Shell Station. Fix your toilet.

The trip between Georgia and Indiana varies between boring as hell and beautiful.

It starts out beautiful, for sure, with the rolling hills of Tennessee and so much to see. Especially FIREWORKS!

When I was a kid, these were the places you HAD to stop. They had the "illegal" fireworks. Well, they aren't illegal in Tennessee. But the bottle rockets and big boomers you can't get anywhere else, you could get them at these places. We always had such big Fourth of July celebrations, these places were a MUST DO when I was little. However, it was late and we weren't even in Kentucky yet, so onward we zoomed.

I would testify in court that Cracker Barrel is the friend of travelers everywhere. You get hot food that isn't fries and a burger and you don't feel like you're dying of grease after you eat. Their bathrooms are big and roomy and perfect for a mom with two ten year olds in pull ups (Thank you Cracker Barrel). Although I do miss them having their soaps and stuff out. They used to ALWAYS have out lavender soaps and lotions in the bathrooms, nice ones.
It was a such a nice touch, though. You're all gross from hundreds of miles of travel, you have a nice meal and then this luxurious treat in the bathroom - wonderful calming lavender.

For me, after changing SO many diapers for SO many years, it was something I always looked forward to.
I still love you Cracker Barrel but I wish you weren't so cheap you didn't put out hand lotion these days.  I still love your crackling fire in the winter. So I guess we're square.

The girl picked out a new friend in the country store, and we found an ADORABLE Halloween Costume for her. (NOT SHOWING YOU YET)

We didn't arrive at our destination until 3am or so, and then we discovered, I'd over estimated our ability to cram us all into two queens. Lesson learned, this won't work in the future.

And with that we were home. 

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You Can Go Home

We decided that we needed to go home. We haven't been in years, and no one's parents are getting any younger. My mom isn't all that well, and Julia's NEVER been there to see them. So we loaded up and took our Labor Day weekend to head home.

Travelling is never without it's peril, to be certain. The girl HAD to go, and so we stopped and this was our option.

I chose NOT to flush. Sorry Shell Station. Fix your toilet.

The trip between Georgia and Indiana varies between boring as hell and beautiful.

It starts out beautiful, for sure, with the rolling hills of Tennessee and so much to see. Especially FIREWORKS!

When I was a kid, these were the places you HAD to stop. They had the "illegal" fireworks. Well, they aren't illegal in Tennessee. But the bottle rockets and big boomers you can't get anywhere else, you could get them at these places. We always had such big Fourth of July celebrations, these places were a MUST DO when I was little. However, it was late and we weren't even in Kentucky yet, so onward we zoomed.

I would testify in court that Cracker Barrel is the friend of travelers everywhere. You get hot food that isn't fries and a burger and you don't feel like you're dying of grease after you eat. Their bathrooms are big and roomy and perfect for a mom with two ten year olds in pull ups (Thank you Cracker Barrel). Although I do miss them having their soaps and stuff out. They used to ALWAYS have out lavender soaps and lotions in the bathrooms, nice ones.
It was a such a nice touch, though. You're all gross from hundreds of miles of travel, you have a nice meal and then this luxurious treat in the bathroom - wonderful calming lavender.

For me, after changing SO many diapers for SO many years, it was something I always looked forward to.
I still love you Cracker Barrel but I wish you weren't so cheap you didn't put out hand lotion these days.  I still love your crackling fire in the winter. So I guess we're square.

The girl picked out a new friend in the country store, and we found an ADORABLE Halloween Costume for her. (NOT SHOWING YOU YET)

We didn't arrive at our destination until 3am or so, and then we discovered, I'd over estimated our ability to cram us all into two queens. Lesson learned, this won't work in the future.

And with that we were home. 

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A Wandering Sunday

We set out to go to the mountains. Not originally, mind you. Originally we were going to the Aquarium. But the FALCONS were in town, and that means going downtown is RIGHT OUT. So we said we'd go the other direction and it was a beautiful day for some mountain air. Except we wanted to go to Brasstown Bald. And then that was too far and it was too late. So we wandered to the mountains anyway and found a pottery museum.

It was all about the North Georgia tradition of pottery making, and how eventually glass jars nearly killed the entire trade. Which was interesting. What was also interesting was how individual pottery is, and how long the traditions of it run.

Every place has it's own traditions, so it was interesting to see how the traditional pottery of Georgia settlers looks and is used. I was really interested that storing syrup, their only way of sweetening, was of huge value and you had to have special pots of that. Who knew?

There is knowledge missing in the world, because we don't do these things - like NEEDING TO STORE SYRUP - anymore in our lives. We don't value things that are simple but well made. I think that's a pity.

It made me want a lot of hand thrown pottery for everyday use, the kind that feels heavy in your hand and is useful yet still pretty. Maybe NOT a head shaped jar. But - maybe?

We didn't know what to do this day, so we just got in our car and and we drove. It was a sign by the side of the road that led us to this pottery museum and we spent a couple of hours learning about things we hadn't even thought of before. It was pretty fascinating.

A lot of people always think it's odd or amazing, or somewhere in between that we take two severely autistic boys places like this. But as you can see, they were interested. Did they totally get it? Hard to say. Their receptive language skills are quiet good.

Did they behave perfectly? Nope. They never do.
But when we're all together we're making memories and that's what matters. Even when the memories aren't perfect. We're together and we're a family.
And some days, that's the best we're going to get.

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A Wandering Sunday

We set out to go to the mountains. Not originally, mind you. Originally we were going to the Aquarium. But the FALCONS were in town, and that means going downtown is RIGHT OUT. So we said we'd go the other direction and it was a beautiful day for some mountain air. Except we wanted to go to Brasstown Bald. And then that was too far and it was too late. So we wandered to the mountains anyway and found a pottery museum.

It was all about the North Georgia tradition of pottery making, and how eventually glass jars nearly killed the entire trade. Which was interesting. What was also interesting was how individual pottery is, and how long the traditions of it run.

Every place has it's own traditions, so it was interesting to see how the traditional pottery of Georgia settlers looks and is used. I was really interested that storing syrup, their only way of sweetening, was of huge value and you had to have special pots of that. Who knew?

There is knowledge missing in the world, because we don't do these things - like NEEDING TO STORE SYRUP - anymore in our lives. We don't value things that are simple but well made. I think that's a pity.

It made me want a lot of hand thrown pottery for everyday use, the kind that feels heavy in your hand and is useful yet still pretty. Maybe NOT a head shaped jar. But - maybe?

We didn't know what to do this day, so we just got in our car and and we drove. It was a sign by the side of the road that led us to this pottery museum and we spent a couple of hours learning about things we hadn't even thought of before. It was pretty fascinating.

A lot of people always think it's odd or amazing, or somewhere in between that we take two severely autistic boys places like this. But as you can see, they were interested. Did they totally get it? Hard to say. Their receptive language skills are quiet good.

Did they behave perfectly? Nope. They never do.
But when we're all together we're making memories and that's what matters. Even when the memories aren't perfect. We're together and we're a family.
And some days, that's the best we're going to get.

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